Anarchists
by watchmen4
Summary: Members of the Rising Tide decide to acquire weapons of mass destruction, forcing Skye and Clark Kent to take action.
1. Chapter 1

RISING TIDE SAFEHOUSE LOS ANGELES

"This will stop the warmongers in their tracks."

Skye was glad that she had her van to live in: she didn't want to live in this dump with the other Rising Tide hacktivists in her cell. She'd been on her own for a while, and had forgotten how little money the group had. The decor showed the lack of steady income the group produced, with peeling paint, worn furniture, and a highly frayed carpet. She peered down at a strange looking device on the stained coffee table, arguably the best looking thing in the apartment. The other Rising Tide hackers seemed to be excited by it, so she donned a smile to fit in. "What exactly is it?"

"It's an electromagnetic pulse generator." Tall with a punk rock look, Eddie was the leader of the local Rising Tide cell. "When it's detonated, it'll send out a wave of energy that fries every electronic device within a five mile radius."

To Skye it looked like a normal bomb, or at least what nuclear bombs looked like in the movies. But that wasn't her main concern. "How did we even get that?"

"We have a supporter at the new Queen Industries weapons plant. They just started making these for the government, and he scrounged enough individual components to give us a working unit. He also got us some experimental pulse rifles that were slated for destruction. Evidently they don't hold a charge consistently." He pointed to a wooden crate in the corner. A hacker opened it a drew a sleek, electrified rifle, more advanced then anything that Skye had imagined. "They were designed to hurt guys like Thor and Captain America."

She was confused by their mere presence here. "What are we supposed to do with those? I know that some of us are strapped for cash, but it's not like we can sell this stuff."

"Oh, we won't sell this stuff." Eddie grinned. "We're gonna detonate the bomb right outside of the plant. Let's see how how many weapons Old Baldy makes then." He got high fives from several hackers.

Skye looked from one person to another to see if they were joking. They weren't. "You do realize that there's a hospital not even a mile from there. You'll kill all of their equipment. Their generators won't help."

Eddie nodded. "Yeah, that's true."

"Skye was shocked by his nonchalant response. "People will die!"

"How many more people will die because of Queens tools of death?" asked Amanda, Eddie's girlfriend and the most agressive person in the group. She and Skye had never gotten along. "We launch a DOS attack against Queen, and he's up and running in no time. Expose Lex Luthor's dirty laundry, and his spin doctors clean it up. We have to do more if we're gonna hurt guys like these."

What happened to everyone since the last time she'd seen them all? Nothing in their e-mails had indicated that there was a problem. Where was the idealism, the sense of justice, that made them rebels to begin with? "So we resort to the same ruthless tactics that they use? That's not who we are!"

Eddie proudly hefted a rifle. "Then we need to change who we are."

This wasn't the Rising Tide that Skye knew. She joined an organization that wanted to take innocents out of danger, not view them as simply collateral damage. Eddie sounded like the very people that they were supposed to be fighting. "I understand your frustration, Eddie. Things haven't our way lately. But guns..." she shook her heads in angst. "All this does is hurt credibility, and hurt innocent people. How are you any different from the Ten Rings?"

Amanda charged up a rifle and aimed it at and imaginary target. "Maybe we need to get rid of you, Skye."

"What!?" Skye looked to Eddie, who simply shrugged. Why argue any further? It was clear that reason wouldn't - a chill went down her spine. "You're not gonna kill me to keep me quiet, are you?"

Amanda turned to Eddie. "That's a good question."

Then the roof caved in.

OUTSIDE THE RISING TIDE SAFEHOUSE

LOS ANGELES

Clark Kent did his best to keep his head in the game.

Normally a group like the Rising Tide wouldn't appear on the team's radar: they were focused on countering Zod's anticipated conquest of Earth. Oliver Queen had even developed these weapons upon her request to resist Zod. But just after the weapons went missing a Rising Tide e-mail tripped a program that Chloe had set up to keep track of weapons of mass destruction being traded on the black market. The last thing that the world needed was for the Rising Tide to go from pacifist hackers to heavily armed insurgents. Clark wanted these weapons off of the streets ASAP.

The e-mail verified the possession of the stolen EMP bomb, but not its carefully concealed its location. Using other bits of intelligence collected elsewhere, Chloe was able to narrow down the possible location of the bomb to just a few spots worldwide, and the team scrambled to each of them to hunt the bomb down.

Clark was currently on the edge of a rooftop, looking down on on the roof of a two-flat that Chloe believed was housing the gamma bomb. Their intelligence was right atleast; Clark's x-ray vision revealed the bomb to him, and he could even see energy being softly emitted from it's core. It's eerie green similarity to kryptonite made him feel slightly uneasy. "Boyscout to Watchtower," he said into his communications earwig. "I have eyes on the bomb, as well as the pulse rifles."

"Copy that," said Chloe. "Putting the team on standby."

"How many hostiles, Boyscout?" asked Oliver Queen, who was perched on the rooftop a nearby building providing overwatch for the operation. He sported customized sunglasses which featured night-vision capabilities. "

Clark scanned the building again. "I count seven people inside." He examined their unconventional weapons, a kind that he'd never seen on Earth on before. "Only three have the energy pulse rifles." Ollie mentioned how powerful the weapons were, but were they powerful enough to hurt Clark? "There's a fourth man on the roof, with a set of binoculars and an Uzi." The roof sentry was looking everywhere but up, and Clark hoped that he kept it that way.

"Did we ever find out how they got those rifles?"

"No." Clark gave it some thought. "Well, we do know from that _Vanity Fair_ article that they were receiving weapons stolen from Stark Industries at some point. Maybe they have a new supplier." He gave the building another look. "I don't see any surprises. We should proceed."

"Yeah, we can handle the rifles. How's the perimeter"

"The coast is clear. No civilians within a quarter mile." That distance wouldn't protect anyone from an accidental detonation of the bomb, but if guns were fired no one else would be hurt. "Is that bomb active?"

Clark took a closer look. "Negative. Are we all set?"

"Standby. Boy Scout" Clark saw Oliver leave the roof and head towards the target house. "We move in three... two...one...go!"

Clark dropped towards the target building's roof. A tazer arrow from Oliver flew into the roof sentry's chest and sent bolts of electricity over his torso. He seized up, then dropped to the roof unconscious. Clark went through the roof right next to the sentry, and the now falling terrorist dropped onto one of the other fighters below in the head, and they both fell unconscious as they hit the floor. Clark twisted, landing in a crouch before he help up a hand. "Stop! Don't move!" The other two panicked at first, but then drew their pulse rifles and opened fire on Clark. "Oof!" A yellow beam slammed his in the gut and sent him flying back into the wall. He hadn't hurt so much in ages. Apparently it was more than just an energy weapon. How did Oliver develop technology like this? He didn't stop to consider the answer, instead using his heat vision to set one of the guns ablaze. The fighter holding it screeched in pain before surrendering the smoldering rifle. Before he could be hit again the door to the building came flying off the hinges in an explosion, with Oliver charging in behind his bow and arrow. The fighters barely had time to turn and look before Oliver cold-cocked one of them, and he went flying over a table and head-first into a wall.

The last fighter, a woman looked at Clark and Oliver, then the bomb on the table. Likely judging that this was her only chance to use the bomb, she dropped her rifle dashed for it. Oliver unleashed a roundhouse kick to her chin, sending her crashing to the floor knocked out. "We're clear, Watchtower" Oliver reported. "How about a pickup call for the boys in blue?"

"Copy that, Green Arrow."

Clark slowly picked himself up off of the floor, dusting himself off. "Those guns have some punch." He walked over to the fighters and began putting flexicuffs on their wrists.

The bomb began to hum slightly, catching everyone's attention. Clark looked at the bomb with her x-ray vision again. "The bomb hasn't been completely activated, but the core has gone active. Maybe all of the energy flying through the room did something to it."

"This is why idiots shouldn't play with fire. Let me try something." Oliver opened up a control on the bomb, and keyed the console inside. Instead of dying down, the humming increased. "Hmm. Let's try this again." He entered another command. The humming slowly receded. "We're all set." He stepped back and waved a hand over the bomb. "Boyscout, would you be so kind..."

"Gladly." Clark used his heat vision to turn the bomb's trigger into molten slag. "One more for the good guys."

RISING TIDE SAFEHOUSE  
LOS ANGELES 

Skye didn't know who these people were, but they were amazing.

She'd read eyewitness accounts of Thor's fight in New Mexico, and tried to imagine it, but it didn't compare to what she just saw. Laser eyes! Bullet proof chests! And the way they stopped the bomb was amazing. Where were these people from?

The tall, dark, and squared jaw man in the red jacket held out a hand and helped her up. "I heard you trying to stop them. We appreciate that."

Skye frowned. "How did you hear what I said?" She looked at her cell mates as she stood up. "Was someone wearing a wire?'

The man with a bow and arrow pointed at his weapon Skye. "Stay on your knees."

Square jaw help up a hand."There's nothing hostile in her..." he paused for a moment, as if confused. "vitals.."

He lowered the bow and arrow and completed putting flexiicuffs on the other hackers.

How did he know about her vitals? Was that one of his abilities? "Who are you guys?"

Arrow man frowned. "Are you kidding me?" 

Skye couldn't argue with that sentiment. "Just asking."

Square jaw picked up the bomb and squeezed into baseball-sized refuse. "Get out of here. Tell the rest of the Rising Tide to stay out of the weapons game."

She pointed towards the other hackers. "What are you going to do with them? Throw them into some secret prison? You shown a single badge or warrant."

Arrow man trained his weapon on her again. "Do you want to join them?"

This time Skye had no problem being told to leave. Hoping that the rest of the cell didn't spill secrets to whoever these people were, Skye immediately headed for her van. 


	2. Chapter 2

SKYE'S VAN

DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

Skye's world had changed overnight.

First came betrayal as she uncovered several members of the Rising Tide, people she'd considered friends, were willing to kill her and others in order to further their political goals. Several days after the fact she still couldn't understand how she hadn't seen the signs of their shift in vision, the moment when they'd stopped seeing anyone who'd disagreed with them as a friend. Were they ever really her friends? Hopefully they wouldn't mention her name the ATF.

What about the superpowered thugs who'd arrested come and arrested them? Skye had hacked the ATF, FBI, and Homeland Security SWAT databases, and couldn't find any info on them. Where'd they come from?

There wasn't any time to solve that mystery. As soon as she saw the alien invasion of New York, Skye hopped in her van and sped out of the city. Alot of people had the very same idea, heading for the suburbs or even Mexico, and the interstate was flooded with traffic. It took her hours just to make it outside of city limits, and she finally began to feel safe as she hit the desert road.

She raced his unmarked van down the road, ignoring speed limit signs. The world was under attack by an alien army and there was panick everywhere. Who would care about one car out in the boondocks? Besides, she had to find a spot where she could get she park and type without being bothered. The Rising Tide had been saying for years that the government had been hiding information about extraterrestrials, and now the proof was over Manhattan. How many people would this bring over to their side? Skye smiled at the thought.

If she hadn't been paying attention to the road she wouldn't have noticed the man lying in the middle of it in a fetal position shivering. Skye slammed hard on the brakes, skidding dozens of feet before coming to a halt. Taking a moment to make sure that she herself was okay, she jumped out of vehicle and ran towards the man. "Sir, are you okay? What's your name?"

"Davis. D-Davis Bloome." The shaking, twenty-something year-old man looked up at Skye, and the hacker recoiled at seeing bone-like protusions coming from the man's face and hands. Was he hit by a car? It was the only explanation that Skye could see for such injuries.

"What happened to you?"

"You-you have to go," Davis stammered. His eyes started to change color into a solid black all over. "I'm not safe."

Skye stumbled back. "Did someone do this to you?" Skye had never heard of someone's eyes changing color when they went into shock, but she'd never seen these kind of injuries before either. "Just hold on, Davis." Skye ran to her van. "Let me grab my cell phone. I'll call for help."

"No!" Davis growled. Did his voice change too? "He's almost here! You have to leave! Hurry!"

Skye picked up her phone and closed the car door. "Who's coming?" She looked around for a potential assailant. "Where?" She got back to Davis, whose skin had turned into a rocky gray. Skye thought it he was transforming like the Hulk. Had he been exposed to gamma radiation? According to the Rising Tide only Banner and Blonsky had experienced such an event, but what else would explain this? Davis started to rise. "Wait! You're in no condition to go anywhere!"

Davis paid her no heed, standing to his full height. His clothes ripped, his skin went completely gray, the bone-like protusions spread all over his body, and he grew taller than he'd been before. Skye felt a chill go down her spine as she came to startlingly possibility: would Davis break into a rage like Banner, or was he an alien invader? She wasn't going to wait find out; she turned to dash for her vehicle.

An inhuman chuckle was the last thing Skye heard as she took a blow to the back of her head and dropped to the pavement.

X-99 JAVELIN V-STOL TRANSPORT

AIRBORN ABOVE DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

"Green Arrow to Watchtower: we have eyes on Doomday." Davis, who's transformation Doomsday was now complete, slowly made his way towards a dark-haired Eurasian woman crawling towards an SUV. "It looks like he's hurt at least one civilian."

"Copy that, Green Arrow. Manhunter, Stargirl, Cyborg, standby to be redeployed if Davis goes on the move. Intercept him if he gets to the city."

"We're ready, Watchtower," John Jones said from Los Angeles.

"Be careful." Oliver could hear the stress in Chloe's voice when referring to her ex-boyfriend Davis. Oliver piloted the X-72 VSTOL transport to a quick hover before landing in the desert sand.

Carter walked towards the rear ramp, mace in hand. "Open the door."

Bart shook his head before donning his hood and sunglasses. "Let's wait for Clark to show up with the key."

"We have to hit this thing now. Open the door, archer!"

"He's right." Oliver grabbed his bow. "We have keep Doomsday here. If he gets near a populated area who knows what could happen." He opened the ramp, and Carter immediately flew out.

"Wait!" Dinah jumped up from her seat and went after Carter. "Let me soften him up first!"

Oliver ran out behind them. Carter's aggression could be useful, but it wasn't right now. "Impulse, get the injured woman of here!"

Doomsday made his way towards the Eurasian woman, who was now on her feet and hiding behind her van. She took out a smartphone and pointed it at Doomsday. Carter flew straight at Doomsday, rearing his mace back for a haymaker. Doomsday quickly turned, and when Carter brought the mace forward Doomsday caught it with one hand. He used the other hand to hit Carter in the jaw, sending him flying back into the air before skidding onto the road. His race was covered in blood and he didn't move. "Hawkman!" Bart ran over and picked Carter up in a fireman's carry. He zoomed off, kicking up a trail of dust behind him.

Trying not to let Carter's injuries be a distraction, Oliver motioned to Dinah before covering his ears. "Hit him!"

Dinah took a deep breath the released a canary cry that sent the Eurasian woman to her knees. Doomsday screamed in agony before leaping towards her. "Look out!" the Eurasian woman warned. Dinah barely cartwheeled out of the way before Doomsday's feet stomped where she was just been standing. He brought his fist down towards her head, but cartwheeled again. Oliver let loose a kryptonite-tipped arrow that bounced off of Doomsday's thick hide. Doomsday turned towards Oliver and brought his hands together in a powerful clap, and the force of the displaced air knocked Oliver off of his feet.

Bart ran back into the fray, hitting Doomsday with a speed punch that was so loud the it almost matched Dinah's cry. Doomsday grunted and stumbled. Bart skidded to a halt, shaking his hand in pain. He threw another running haymaker with his uninjured hand, and Oliver heard a "pop" when Bart's punch made contact with Doomday's face, and he knew that the hand was broken. Bart confirmed it when he cried out in pain. Doomsday grunted and took a swipe at Bart, but Bart easily ducked out of the way. Oliver cocked a high-explosive arrow. "Get clear!" Dinah covered her head for protection as Oliver let loose, and Bart ran behind the van. The arrow detonated on the back of Doomsday's head, but with no consequence.

"Watchtower, where's Boy Scout?!" Dinah demanded to know. "We don't have the firepower to hold this thing down!"

"I've lost contact with Boy Scout. I don't know if it's his comms or not."

What?! The last thing that they needed was Clark to have some kind of trouble. The entire plan depended on him. "We need reinforcements!"

"Got it. Manhunter, intercept, flank speed." Doomsday stomped the ground near Dinah, and a jagged crater formed under her feet. Taking advantage of her unsure footing, he landed an uppercut to her midsection. The bone protrusions on the back of his hand pierced her flesh. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she hit the sand.

"Dinah!" The team was dropping like flies, and he couldn't ask Bart to carry Dinah to an emergency room. "Watchtower, Impulse is down, and Black Canary is has taken a large stab wound!"

A moment later John flew onto the scene, landing in between Doomsday and Dinah. "Grab Canary. I'll keep him here." Doomsday pounded John across the jaw, leaving a huge gash on her cheek. John was rocked back, but he returned the blow just as hard. Oliver used the distraction to pick up Dinah and help her on to the transport. He could hear the grunts and roars of the fight outside as he drew medical supplies from a small compartment.

"We need to stop the bleeding first, then we have tp disinfect the cut. There's no telling what kind of alien microbes might be on it." Dinah sat up in her chair, moving gingerly to get more comfortable on the transport's deck. She gruntled as Oliver held gauze to her wound. "Help John. I can handle the bandage. He can't handle Doomsday alone."

Oliver shook his head. "What about you?"

"The sooner you stop," she pointed outside, "that thing, the sooner we can fly to New York and help stop this alien invasion."

It was a sizable gash, but Oliver had seen worse. Besides, she was right. He sighed. "Just hold on." He dashed back outside to the pugilism, and John was barely on his feet. He was clearly punch-drunk, and swung and missed with a weak right hook. Doomsday lifted a broad leg and kicked John in the chest, sending in John flying back dozens of feet, snapping a cactus in half before sliding into the sand. John tried to get up but couldn't. Doomsday turned towards the van, slowly stalking towards Bart and the civilian woman. Bart stood in front her as a shield. "You need to run, ma'am."

Oliver had no clue what to do. His kryptonite arrows somehow had no effect, and no one else was in shape to do anything. He certainly couldn't accomplish anything in hand-to-hand combat. Even if he could get the Javelin up and running in seconds, it was unarmed. How was he going to stop this monster? "Green Arrow to Watchtower. Manhunter's down, and I'm out of options here."

Just then he heard a sonic boom and another gust of wind slammed Oliver, filling the air with a cloud of sand. When it dispersed it was Doomsday that ended up on the ground, looking as surprised as Oliver felt. Clark stood over Doomsday, the knuckles of one hand stained with blood, the other hand holding a silver, octagonal disc. "I'm on scene, Watchtower."

Oliver recognized the disc as one of Clark's Kryptonian keys. Clark raised the key, and a portal to a gray, lifeless wasteland appeared behind the beast. Clark then grabbed Doomsday by his shoulders and brought him to his feet. Doomsday head-butted him, then landed an uppercut that sent Clark stumbling back. Clark blazed Doomsday's face with heat vision, and the monster covered his face and roared. It was Doomsday's turn to be kicked, as Clark sent him sailing back through the portal. Clark then immediately raised the key and closed the portal. "Doomsday is in the Phantom Zone, Watchtower. It shouldn't be long before he reverts to his human form."

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Boy Scout."

Clark looked around. "Is everyone okay?"

"Black Canary has a stab wound in her stomach, and Impulse has at least one broken hand." He looked off into the desert. "I'm not sure what Manhunter's status is."

Bart smiled weakly. "I'm starting to heal. I'll check on him."

John was already starting to rise, bloodied and bruised but seemingly alright.

Clark nodded. "Let's get Canary and Manhunter to a doctor." He turned to the Eurasian woman. "Hello again. Are you hurt?"

She touched the back of her head and winced. "You all saved my life. Again. Thank you." She crossed her arms. "But the public deserves that there's a superpowered police force in existence. Where did you send that thing? And was that one of the aliens from New York?" Oliver walked over to her and took her her smartphone from her. "Hey!"

"I'm sorry. Even if I deleted the video that you took, I'm sure that a Rising Tide hacker has the skills to recover the data."

"That's illegal seizure!" She lunged for the phone but Oliver held it away. "Besides, all you need is the SD card!"

"That's all I'm taking." He removed the card, then held up the phone for Clark to examine. "Any offending data anywhere else, Boy Scout?"

Clark squinted at the phone. "It looks clean." He squinted into the van. "Not quite sure about her laptop, though. It has various types of intrusion software." He looked to the woman. "I applaud your desire to fight injustice. But you don't have to break the law to help others. Why don't you get rid of the software?"

The woman seemed to relax. "You have your methods, and I have mine."

Oliver handed her her phone back, and he and Bart helped John back towards the Javelin. "It's never too late to change your mind," said Clark.

SKYE'S VAN

DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

Skye wondered again exactly who she'd been dealing with as she watched the Javelin took off. Federal agents who let a known hacker go? Superpowered beings with some kind of teleportation device? How long have they had that kind of technology? Does this mean that all of the Roswell conspiracy theories were actually true? She had no clue where to look for answers, and no idea if anybody would believe her story if she told it.

One thing that she did understand: after the events here and in New York, the world had certainly changed.


	3. Chapter 3

SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OPEN SESSION

RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING

WASHINGTON, DC

Maria hill did not want to be here.

Politicians were irritating at the best of times. The hypocritical, self-serving grandstanding of a congressional hearing was painstaking to watch and absolute torture to be a part of. The questions asked here were normally ones that could be answered within a few minutes, but in a public hearing were dragged out and asked with false indignation in front of the cameras.

It certainly didn't help that today the Senate had a legitimate reason for concern: the Chitauri invasion. Criminals, militias, and terrorist groups were beginning to use technology dropped by the aliens during the battle, and several people had already been killed by them. Americans everywhere were demanding an explanation, Hill had been summoned to provide it. Director Fury was still consulting with the World Security Council, so the onus fell on her to face the congressional gauntlet.

"The chair recognizes Senator Kent from Kansas."

Martha Kent was one of the few senators that seemed purely interested in the needs of her constituents. While others asked their random questions from notes, Kent seemed prepared and focused. "Thank you for coming Miss Hill, I'll be brief. SHIELD had known about the scope of the extraterrestrial threat months before before the Battle of New York. Why didn't you counter with a tactical force far larger than the six you had in the Avengers Initiative?"

Hill took a deep breath before giving her answer. You couldn't tell them that she was against the Initiative from the start, and reveal SHIELD'S dirty laundry. Fortunately she had a convenient out. "We were instructed by the World Security Council to focus our resources on developing advanced small arms for mass development."

"And when were those weapons used during the fighting? I didn't see any reference to them in the after-action reports."

Hill saw Colonel Glenn Talbot, seated next to her also give testimony, smirk out of the corner of her eye. The Air Force officer had never a friend of SHIELD, seeing them as arrogant opponents. When he'd heard about SHIELD's project to create weapons based on the Tesseract, he demanded US military access, and was incensed when he was denied. "The weapons weren't ready for field use, Senator."

Kent looked genuinely disappointed. "That brings me to my original question, Miss Hill. Why didn't SHIELD respond with a larger force? Agents Romanov and Barton were deployed with conventional weapons, so why weren't more agents with them? Perhaps they could've assisted with the post-battle cleanup, and we wouldn't have so many alien weapons floating around on the black market."

There wasn't a great answer for that, so Hill made one up on the fly. "The damage to the helicarrier required extra agents to assist with repairs. That prevented us from sending field-grade agents to the fight."

"So why didn't you immediately coordinate with the military and local SWAT teams to form a defense? You then could've collected the alien technology at a faster pace before the criminals helped themselves." Kent held up a leather-bound folder with the SHIELD logo on the front. "This report raises more questions than it answers. The biggest that I think of is this: What human threats have gotten exponentially larger because of alien technology?"

WATCHTOWER LOFT

METROPOLIS, KANSAS

Clark surveyed the room to be sure that the entire team was here. They were, though several were still suffering injuries from battling Doomsday. It was a good thing that the Chitauri invasion ended when it did, because Clark wasn't sure if they could contribute much to Earth's defense.

It appeared that the world had bigger problems anyway.

"Thanks for coming, guys. I know that everybody is still collecting themselves from recent events, but this discussion couldn't wait. Our problems may have gotten bigger."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Bigger than a shape-shifting Kryptonian beast?"

Clark nodded. "I was walking home from work last night when I passed a restaurant and saw Gordon Godfrey eating dinner with young, scruffy-looking man."

John chuckled. "Even Darkseid's minions require food, Clark."

Carter stood from his seat. "Is this why you interrupted our day?"

Clark held back his irritation. "I stopped to listen in on their conversation for a few seconds, but first I checked the younger man's forehead with my x-ray vision. He had the Omega Symbol under their skin, just like Godfrey."

That got everyone's attention. Carter sat down, and Oliver sat up a little straighter. Victor crossed his arms. "Another Darkseid minion?" he asked.

Clark nodded. "I took a picture of him, and Chloe ran it under her facial recognition program."

Chloe walked over to her keyboard and splashed the man's criminal record on the main monitor. His photo showed a middle-aged man was a goatee and Mohawk. "This is Michael Hendricks, a Cal-Tech grad with long rap sheet for computers related crimes, a genuine hacker. The FBI suspect's that he has ties to the Rising Tide."

"You mean that Darkseid might have control of who knows how many highly-skilled hackers?"

Dinah held up her hands. "Wait a minute. The Rising Tide are certainly criminals, but they've almost always done it in the name of social justice, or at least claimed to. It doesn't fit Darkseid's modus operandi."

"That's why it works for so well," Chloe countered. "He can use the Rising Tide to cause disruption in a way that you wouldn't suspect. It's a solid distraction while he prepares his forces for the coming invasion."

"Or worse," Victor said. "The Rising Tide could hack into the world's defensive networks and shut things down as Darkseid's attacks."

"So let's say that the Rising Tide is all Darkseid's," said Victor. "Why haven't they more of a problem? Wouldn't Godfrey give them alien programming techniques or technology? Something better than human science, but not so advanced that the hackers would be suspicious?"

"He may not have had access to that before, but after New York, who knows what he's gotten his hands on: networking tech, weapons, etc. If he passes that on to a bunch of anarchists, there's no telling what could happen." Everyone paused for a moment, considering the potential damage. "We don't know enough about the Rising Tide to move against them right now: their numbers, locations, or leadership. Even the authorities don't have a lot to go on. If were going to stop them, were going to have to start from scratch."

"That means more electronic surveillance than ever," said Arthur.

Clark didn't like that. It usually meant casting a wide net, collecting information on the innocent to find the guilty.

"Not necessarily," John argued. "Perhaps if we put Hendricks under surveillance he could lead us to other hackers, Darkseid's lieutenants, and who knows who else." Everyone nodded in agreement. "Once we flesh out more of their organization, we can make are move to step them."

Dinah shook her head in seeming frustration. "But how? Let's say that the Rising Tide is as large as we think it is. It would take more manpower than we have to stop them as a group. Even if we all take on one cell each in a simultaneous raid, it would still leave numerous hackers to run free. We might need outside help."

"You mean the authorities?" Oliver snorted. "Yeah, there well equipped to handle the problem. We've all seen, the video; they fell backwards into stopping the Chitauri. How will they stop someone as organized and ruthless as Darkseid?"

Clark had to agree.

"There's also that fact that we don't know who in the government works for Darkseid," said Courtney, who until now had been silent. "That includes SHIELD."

After multiple run-ins with Checkmate, the last thing that Clark wanted was to deal with another clandestine law enforcement group with employed superhumans.

"So how to we handle this then? We can't just let this sit."

RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING CORRIDORS

WASHINGTON, DC

Hill spotted Lois Lane headed towards and sped up her pace, but Lane scrambled to keep up. "Miss Hill, do you a moment?"

The last thing that wanted to do was talk to a reporter right now, but SHIELD needed good press. She gave a weak smile. "What can I do for you, Miss Lane?"

"I just wanted to follow up on a question that Senator Kent asked. Loki operated on Earth for several days before he was captured by the Avengers. What other aliens threats are operating on Earth right now, in the shadows?"

Does she know about the Kandorians? Hill asked herself. SHIELD still didn't have a good handle on the Kryptonian soldiers, and certainly didn't want knowledge them to get out. "We aren't aware of any other aliens here on Earth."

"There reports of several cults that worship aliens arming themselves for a coming war. Could they be under the influence of Loki or someone else?"

Hill raised an eyebrow. "Is the Daily Planet using blog posts as sources for stories now?"

Lane wasn't backing down because of a little chastisement. "It may sound crazy, but until recently so did an alien invasion. Now we have an unknown organization with little public accountability telling us that everything is okay. So are aliens forming fifth columns here on Earth?"

"Trust me, there are no alien puppeteers working towards our demise. We're just as secure as we ever were."


	4. Chapter 4

SHIELD HELICARRIER

STRIKE TEAM READY ROOM

SANTA PRISCAN AIRSPACE

"You must be Skye."

Skye stopped her nervous fidgeting in her seat to see Agent Natasha Romanov, sit next to her in the small briefing space. Skye was only here because Agent Phil Coulson, her team leader, had recommended her for this joint SHIELD/ US military operation. Though she was only a trainee, Coulson believed that Skye's career would benefit from a high-profile mission, and it didn't hurt that the operation needed a computer scientist. So far it had been more than she could ask for, and they hadn't even entered the field yet. She looked around and fan-girled at the assemblage of superhero celebrity in the room; Romanov in her sexy yet practical catsuit, Clint Barton fidgeting with an arrowhead, and James Rhodes in his imposing War Machine armor sharing a joke with Tony Stark amd Bruce Banner. Even Thor was here, sitting at the room's edgedrinking water. Would they think her an amateur if she asked for selfies? Skye could almost feel her serious and tactiturn teammate Agent May frowning at her for a lack of professionalism, and thought better of it. "Um, yeah, I'm Skye."

"You must be halfway decent if Coulson wants you in on this op, but you're greener than grass, so stay close to us and pay attention. If you aren't sure what to do you, just follow Rogers."

Skye's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Rogers? You mean..."

Captain Steve Rogers entered the room clad in his dark blue stealth suit and his shield clasped to his back. To Skye he was just as impressive in person as he was on television. He stood at the front of the room in front of a large computer monitor and cleared his throat. "Alright, everyone." Everyone turned from what they were doing and looked to Rogers. "Today's target is a tier one personality. He's the leader of Rising Tide, Michael Hendricks."

Skye blushed as she felt every eye in the room zoom in on her. "Awkward," she whispered to herself. Is this the real reason why Coulson had wanted her on this op, to test her loyalty? She thought that they were past that now. Or maybe Coulson thought that she had inside information? The Rising Tide was too compartmentalized for that. She barely knew who Hendricks was; she cetainly didn't have inside knowledge on him specifically. Either way, she'd do well on this mission for her own sake, not anyone else's.

"When did he jump from tier three to tier one on the threat list?" Barton asked, clearly suprised. "Sure, he's a criminal who causes problems, but he hadn't killed anybody. Tier one ISIS senior leader level. All this muscle," he waved his hand around the room, "for an information thief?"

"He's not just an information thief anymore. SHIELD had intel before the Battle of New York that his group had acquired an EMP bomb, but couldn't corroborate it." Skye thought of speaking up, but decided better of it; it wouldn't change anything. "Last night the Riding Tide hacked into Paradigm Defense Labs' network. Apparently they were searching for schematics on gamma bombs."

This time eyes shifted over to Banner. "Now we know why I was asked to come."

"Uh, gamma bombs?" The eyes returned to Skye. She knew that the Los Angeles group was corrupt, but she wasn't ready to believe that the entire organization had betrayed their non-violent stance. She risked sounding as if she were defending them, but didn't want to go on a fool's errand after good people. "Rising Tide has always been about stopping weapons, not using them. Is SHIELD sure that Rising Tide didn't try to delete the schematics?"

"You'd probably know that better than anyone. Even if they had peaceful intentions, compromising the gamma research threatens America's security interests."

"Maybe they're right to do so," Banner argued. Skye thought he sounded like her former comrades. "When will people learn to leave gamma alone? Is my example not scary enough, or does He need to show his face every now and then?"

Rogers stiffened slightly. "Personally, I agree with you Doctor Banner. The last thing we need is more weapons of mass destruction."

"Peaceniks," Stark quipped.

"But," Stark continued, looking slightly irritated, "it's not our place to determine national policy. Moving on, we've had Hendricks under surveillance for several weeks before this recent hack, and apparently we weren't the only ones. Earlier today he was grabbed by two gifted vigilantes we've had on our radar for a short while." Rogers activated the computer monitor behind him to present two images. "Green Arrow and Aquaman."

Skye recognized Green Arrow as one of the superhumans who'd rescued her from Davis Bloome after he'd transformed into a hideous beast that they'd described as "Doomsday".

Rhodes busted out laughing. "Seriously? Those are their handles? How tough can they be?"

"Green Arrow is a real problem," Barton countered. "Romanov and I ran into him Budapest back in the day."

Romanov wore a sly grin.

Rogers continued before Skye could ask what the story was. "Good or not, we know that they operate with other superhumans out of Metropolis." Several images of different people joined Green Arrow and Aquaman on the monitor. "Green Arrow is alot like Bartan, while Aquaman is a noted swimmer with superhuman strength. He's wanted for questioning by the Chinese government for possible involvement in ecoterrorism." Rogers continued through the photos, some of people Skye had recognized, others of strangers. Each of them presented a unique threat, and it seemed to Skye that the Avengers were doing a mental checklist on each one. Were they planning for a fight so easily? Rogers tapped a button on the wall behind him, and a hologram of a large building appeared on his right. "We tracked them to an abandoned warehouse owned by Queen Industries in Santa Prisca. We're going to go in and snatch him from them, and if necessary bring the superhumans in. We'll also grab the laptop he had on him for exploitation."

These men weren't worthy prison in Skye's mind. Didn't SHIELD read the headlines about these men? If they weren't rescuing hurricane victims they were shutting down human trafficking networks, not to mention saving Skye's life. Why were they possible targets?

"What are their intentions?" Romanov asked.

"Unknown, be we can only guess that they plan to interrogate him before turning him in. What little we know about them suggests that they may have altruistic motives, but they do have issues. Aquaman is wanted for questioning by the Chinese government for disrupting fishing operations, Green Arrow is believed to have broken into a LutherCorp facility, and Hawkman allegedly assaulted two corrupt police officers in Corto Maltese."

Based on what she'd read about them on the blogosphere, Skye expected them to be heroes. She raised her hand tentatively. "If they're going to just turn him in, then why not just wait and let them do that?"

Everyone exchanged looks, as if the answer was blatantly obvious. "Because we don't want the vigilantes to know what he knows," said Romanov. "We wouldn't be the pros if we did."

Rogers nodded. "It's best that they leave this to the authorities, at least for now. Once we know more about them, I might change my tune."

Skye realized that it was probably because of her own rebellious nature that she was more willing to work with vigilantes. She was about to ask if the Santa Priscan government was aware of the raid, but thought better of it. The didn't the room to think of her as an amateur.

Rogers presented a new photo: a Quinjet hovering outside of the warehouse as ropes dangled from its sides. "We'll use a fast-rope insertion to hit the warehouse while Colonel Rhodes and Iron Man will provide air support. Romanov, Barton, and I will handle the prisoners, while Skye will handle any crack open Hendricks' laptop and upload all its data to the SHIELD server. We will exfiltrate via Quinjet and drop the prisoners off at the Fridge."

Skye had to ask. "The Fridge?"

Rogers was about to answer when Barton interjected. "Don't worry about it, kid.

"No, I wanna know, too," Rhodes countered. "What's the Fridge?"

"It's a secret SHIELD holding facility," said Rogers, drawing a disapproving look from Barton. "SHIELD has too many secrets, Barton, and everyone deserves to know all the details on this raid." Romanov rolled her eyes. Skye agreed with Rogers, but knew better than to get in between people who'd fought off an alien invasion. She just wanted to run the op and become an agent. Rogers deactivated the monitor."Any other questions?"

"Will the US military have access to the Fridge so we can interrogate the prisoners?" Rhodes asked. "These guys have been operating on American soil, after all. The Pentagon's going to a piece of him, however small."

"No," Rogers answered sheepishly. "And you'll have to power down your armor during egress, so that your navigation software doesn't record the Fridge's location. Fury's orders, not mine," he said before Rhodes could object. "But we will share all intel on the superhumans. Sorry, Colonel."

Rhodes crossed his arms. "Why did the Secretary of Defense even agree to this? This isn't really a joint op."

"If it's successful, he can take partial credit," Stark explained. "If not, he can blame SHIELD for not playing fair."

Rhodes shook his head in frustration. "Politicans."

What did SHIELD get out of it? Of course they wanted Hendricks, but ss for the superhumans, were they looking to control these men, or simply add them to the Index? Not for the first time, Skye wondered if joining SHIELD, even if it meant finding her parents, was the right decision.

UNUSED QUEEN INDUSTRIES WAREHOUSE

SANTA PRISCA

"Do you honestly think that anything you do will prevent Darkseid from reaching full ascendance? You can't even begin to fathom his plans, let alone stop them." Despite being tied to a chair in vast, empty room, Hendricks sounded as if he were in charge. Any doubt that Hendricks was a pawn of Darkseid had evaporated, as he proudly proclaimed his allegiance to the extraterrestrial despot.

Arthur Curry turned away from Hendricks and frowned at Victor Stone, who was busy perusing the files on Hendricks' laptop. An hour of questiong Hendricks had yielded no new intelligence on the The Rising Tide or Darkseid's designs. Arthur wasn't a trained interrogator; no one on the team was. But he'd expected better results than Hendricks' bluster and threats after an hour questioning. What else could he do to make their prisoner talk? He certainly wasn't about to resort to torture, even if he did want to smack the smug grin off Hendricks' face. "Any progress on accessing his files?"

Victor's brows furrowed in frustration. "He's using an encryption protocol that's too exotic to be anything but alien. I can't make heads or tails of it."

Hendricks chuckled. "You see? Darkseid has given me the tools I need to prepare the way for his arrival. And I'm only one servant with a small group of non-violent revolutionaries. How will you stand against Darkseid's Furies, or Darkseid himself?"

"We'll find a way." Victor donned an earpiece and activate its digital communications system. "Cyborg to Watchtower."

It took a moment before a voice responded on the other end. "Go ahead," Chloe Sullivan answered from Metropolis.

"I need your help with a hack."

"Okay. Upload what you have."

"Where are we with this piece of filth?" Carter Hall asked as he walked in with Dinah Lance. Barely healed from their recent encounter with Doomsday, this was his first operation since. Hall still sported a cast on his right forearm. "Boy Scout is set to pounce on whatever targets he reveals."

"You could shut down every Rising Tide cell in existence, and you'd still wouldn't stop Darkseid's Terran operations. HYDRA, ISIS, and his other creations advance his interests. Those that don't directly support his cause still serve as a distraction for your security forces, occupying their time and draining their resources. They have too many problems of their own to any acknowledge Darkseid's existence. So why fight the order and stability that Darkseid provides when you will lose? The structure and discipline of his governance eliminates the very things that you fight against: murder, rape, abuse." Hendricks shrugged. "Isn't that what you want? An end to crime and terrorism? Those things don't exist on Apokolips."

"Not at the expense of liberty." Dinah joined Carter in front of Hendricks. "Not if it means the loss of free will."

Arthur put a hand on her shoulder. "Amen."

Carter gently pulled back. "Everyone leave the room."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Carter's somehow dastardly grin sent chills down Arthur's spine. "Mister Hendricks and I will enjoy a frank discussion."

Carter's aggression always let things come to this. Oliver and Clark had the patience for this, but Arthur didn't. "Hawkman, we don't-"

"Do you honestly think that he'll be moved by your stern looks and angry tone?" Carter looked at Arthur as if he were a disobedient child. "Your harsh words have made him tell you everything, haven't they?" He continued smiling at Hendricks. "The ancient Egyptians had compliance methods that I'm sure will be effective."

Arthur moved in front of him. " 'Compliance methods?' "

"Boy Scout to all units: we have a Quinjet inbound."

Clark's warning grabbed everyone's attention. Hendricks could only see their startled reactions and guess at the cause.

SHIELD QUINJET

INBOUND TO SANTA PRISCA

"We're thirty seconds to target," the crew chief told the strike team.

Everyone stood up from their benches, facing the rear hatch while checking their gear one last time. Skye nervously checked the sights on her M-4 rifle, hoping she wouldn't have to use it against people who'd saved her life. If push came to shove, she'd simply fire above their heads. She imagined Rhodes and Stark, who were flying in formation next to the quinjet, were making their own final preparations. She gripped her weapon tightly. "Don't Miss Skye," Banner said from behind her. "It's just like training, or so I've been told."

Though he sported body armor Banner didn't have a weapon, which made Skye wonder if he planned to go green. The thought didn't appeal to her. "Um, yeah, Doctor Banner."

The crew chief tapped Rogers on the shoulder. "Stark and Rhodes just dropped off comm; I think the target is jamming us."

Stark and Rhodes were going to be a source of intelligence, flying ahead to scout the landing zone for the Avengers. Now they'd have to go in blind. Would it only be Aquaman and Impulse, or their comrades too? Was Hendricks still there? Skye hoped that they had already seen the Quinjet and ran. Rogers nodded to the crew chief and turned towards the others. "Expect a hot LZ."

The wisdom of bringing Banner into a stressful, violent situation concerned her even more. "Doctor Banner, are you sure you want to be here?"

He chuckled. "Don't worry. This little dustup won't be an issue. I'll stay out of the way. Beside, I'm always angry. Why should this be any different?" Romanov turned and winked at Banner, who smiled.

"Thor, watch my six," Rogers ordered, putting his shield on his forearm.

"Aye, Rogers." He tightened his grip on Mjolnir.

"Five seconds," said the crew chief. Skye felt the Quinjet come to a stop and hover. The floor of the Quinjet opened up, and a the crew chief dropped a long rope from the overhead of the Quinjet's compartment, and it hung dozens of feet towards the ground. "Go! Go! Go!"

Rogers dropped to the empty parking lot with a light thud, and quickly ran forward shield first to make room for Thor, he also jumped straight down. Barton hooked the rope to a special clip on his belt and rappelled down to the ground. Romanov followed, then it was Skye's turn.

She'd practiced fast-roping many times before, but this was her first time doing it for real. Would she come under fire before she could even hit the ground? She tried to block the thought out of her mind she she clipped herself to the rope and slid down. She remembered to bend her knees and she touched pavement, quickly detaching the rope and moving to the side to make way for the crew chief to toss the rope to the ground, keeping Banner aboard. The Quinjet slowly moved out to of the area as the Avengers headed towards the warehouse in a single file line. Stark and Rhodes flew above them, providing aerial support.

Aquaman walked out of a door on the rooftop, trident in hand and he stood near the edge. Cyborg was right beside him, pulling a hood on, while Hawkman scowled at everyone. "You guys on are private property."

"You have a wanted fugitive, Mister," Rogers countered. "Give him to us, and this will end peacefully."

"Though I hope that you do not," said Thor.

Aquaman remained firm. "You don't understand what he is. If he escapes your custody like Loki did before the Battle of New York, people will die. We'll turn him over to the American authorities." Green Arrow exited a ground level door and took position behind a closed dumpster. "Please stand down."

"We have our orders." Rogers whipped his shield at Cyborg, and as if on queue, the other Avengers joined in. Cyborg dodged the attack, but Thor flew on to the roof and shoved him a dozen feet backwards, and Cyborg didn't move. Hawkman strung his mace down with one hand towards Thor's head, but Thor blocked the assault with Mjolnir. Aquaman leg-swept Thor with his trident before slinging it at Rhodes. The weapon sliced off Rhodes' shoulder-mounted cannon. Rhodes and Stark both fired repulsor beams, slamming Aquaman and Hawkman to the rooftop. Hawkman defiantly rose to his feet and took to the air. He tackled Stark mid-flight, then drove him straight to the ground in front of a charging Rogers, Barton, and Romanov. Before either party could stand and continue the fight Roger kicked Hawkman across the jaw, knocking him out cold. Rogers used the small magnet on his forearm to recall his shield from the roof.

Green Arrow peeked from behind the garbage can and landed an arrow in Rogers' thigh. Rogers dropped to the ground, grimacing in pain. Barton returned Green Arrow's fire, but he'd already hid behind the trash can. Romanov and Barton laid down suppression fire on him. Thor stood above on the roof's edge, prepared to drop down on Green Arrow unexpectedly, but Aquaman kicked him across the lot and on top of Stark. Rhodes knocked Aquaman back to the pavement with repulsor beams for his trouble.

Skye made sure that she stayed in the background, eager to avoid the superhuman melee before her. How long would it take for someone to be seriously hurt?

Rhodes took an energy blast to the chest, his armor seizing up as electricity coalesced around him and wreaked havoc with his armor's circuitry. He dropped to the ground with large crash. Next Romanov took a blast to her arm, and she fell to the ground clutching the injury. Stargirl smiled from a broken window, her cosmic staff still glowing from being discharged. "Canary, we need you and Boy Scout out here, now!" She turned it on Barton next, and Rogers hobbled in her line of fire just as she cut loose, protecing Barton with his shield. The shear force of the blasts sent Rogers careening back into Barton and to the ground. Green Arrow used the distraction to peek out and fire on Barton, but retreated when Stark aimed his gauntlets in his direction. Barton sent an arrow in Stargirl's direction, clipping Stargirl in the shoulder. Stargirl screamed before hitting the floor inside.

"Stand down, Green Arrow," Rogers demanded. Thor and Rhodes were now on their feet, flanked by Stark and Barton. "You're by yourself. You can't hold out."

_Stand down, _Skye thought to herself. People are already hurt.

Black Canary came running onto the roof, and Stark took several shots at her. They all missed, and she somersaulted onto the trash can then onto the ground.

Then she screamed.

The sound knocked Skye off of her feet in agony; the most intense, penetrating noise she'd ever experienced. She covered her ears in vain.

SHIELD QUINJET HOVERING NEAR DROP ZONE

SANTA PRISCA

"I can't tell if I need to get into the fight or not."

The crew chief simply shrugged at Banner's statement. "Only you can make that call, Doc. Are you sure you wanna, you know...?" he let the question trail.

Banner shrugged himself. "That's the thing, I don't-Argh!" Banner dropped to the deck and clinched his head in agony. "What is that noise?!" His heart rate rocketed, and his muscles tensed. He had to calm down! He took deep breaths, but his head continued to pound. His vision began to grow fuzzy, and his entire body began to grow larger.

UNUSED QUEEN INDUSTRIES WAREHOUSE

SANTA PRISCA

Clark stood vigilantly over their prisoner, trying to ignore the sounds of his teammates outside struggling with SHIELD. The Avengers had the advantage, and all of them could potentially be captured, but Clark had to prevent Darkseid's minion from escaping to enact whatever scheme he had planned. Carter's slowed heartbeat meant that he was uncoscious, as were Arthur and Victor. Courtney was injured but gathering the strength to keep fighting. With Bart and John both still injured, Clark was the only member of the team that hadn't entered the fray. With every passing second he became more tortured about what he should do.

Hendricks donned a look of concern. "Are you really going to stand guard over me while your team is in peril?"

Clark shook his head. Headgames were right out of the Darkseid playbook. "You aren't going to manipulate me."

"Manipulate you?" Hendricks tilted his head towards the noise. "I know you can hear that pitched battle outside. If that doesn't tell you what to do, then I don't know what-" A powerful roar cut him off. "What was that?"

Clark knew exactly what, or who, it was. He was glad that there weren't many civilians nearby. Was SHIELD really so determined to capture Hendricks that they would unleash him? Perhaps they knew Hendrick's true nature? "He's turned. They brought him here, and he's turned." Clark couldn't possibly let his teammates face this monster alone, even if Hawkman were to come to. But how could he be certain that Hendricks didn't just walk away? Bonds could be broken by a determined escapee. Using his x-ray vision, Clark began looking for a stray piece of metal.

"Who?" asked Hendricks. "They brought who here?"

Clark found a rod thirty feet away and walked towards it. "Banner. That's the Avengers outside, probably here for you."

Clark finally saw fear on Hendricks' face. "The Hulk is out there? I thought he was on the lam!"

Clark tied the rod around Hendricks' waist, clamping him to the chair. Hendricks wasn't going anywhere if Clark could help it. "It's not your concern." The ground trembled. "The best way for you to avoid Banner is to stay here."

OUTSIDE OF THE UNUSED QUEEN INDUSTRIES WAREHOUSE

SANTA PRISCA

Skye knew that the fight would be over soon, but didn't know if she'd survive it.

The sound of the Hulk roaring was frightening enough, and brought her and the Avengers out of their sound-induced incapacitation. But once he dropped down from the Quinjet for Skye to see, frightening became terrifying. Hulk surveyed the area, and she hoped that he didn't notice her. When he rumbled past her towards Black Canary and the others, Skye couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Black Canary stood her ground, and Skye wondered if she was suicidal until she cartwheeled out of Hulk's path like an acrobatic matador. Before Hulk could stop and turn around something - or someone - came crashing through the wall of the warehouse and slammed into Hulk like a wrecking ball. Hulk went skidding back onto the concrete, skidding across the ground and creating a gash in the concrete where he'd slid, caught completely off guard.

The tall, squared-jawed brunette who'd fought the gray spikey creature now stood in front of the Avengers, his red jacket covered in dust from just having run through the wall. "Please, we both have injured operators. Let's end this. We'll let you come with us if need be, but we have to stop fighting."

Hulk grunted as he came to his feet. "Stop?"

"Wait, Hulk," said Rogers, trying to stand on a bum leg. "We don't know his power set. Avengers, V formation-"

Hulk charged the brunette, ignoring Rogers. "Hulk not stop!"

They both landed fierce rights, drawing blood from each others lips, and the shockwave from the punches knocking everyone of balance. Hulk kicked the brunette in the gut, sending him to the ground in agony. Hulk smiled, and began pounding him in the stomach until the brunette shot red laser beams from his eyes and into Hulk's face. Hulk growled in pain as he clutched his face and backed away, his face slightly burned.

The brunette got his feet, wiping blood from his mouth. Hulk slammed the ground with his fists, and splitting the asphalt even wider open. The brunette leapt into the air and came down with a right to Hulk's eye. Hulk backhanded him, and the pop! of the brunette's jaw being dislocated could be heard.

Skye couldn't believe it. Who was this man who could trade blows with the Hulk and still stand? Might he even beat the Hulk?

"Let 'em have it!" Though injured, Stargirl held her staff with one hand and opened up on the Hulk. Almost instantly she had to duck a repulsor blast from Stark, while Barton and Green Arrow took arrows to the shoulder from each other. Thor tossed Mjolnir at Black Canary, who dodged it before Barton opened fire on her.

Almost instantaneously the brunette was standing in front of Black Canary, the arrow meant for her bouncing off of his chest. He released the red beams from his eyes at Barton's bow, and he dropped it like a hot potato. He blew out an artic blast of air so cold that even Skye had felt it at the Hulk, who within seconds was encased by ice.

"That was-ahem!-cool," Stark joked.

"What sort of madness is this?" Thor asked as Mjolnir returned to his grip. He reared back Mjolnir for a toss. "I shall break you to find out!"

The brunette moved Black Canary out of the way as Mjolnir soared past. He caught it on its return flight and hurled it into Thor's chest, knocking him to the ground.

Skye had no clue how she was going to stop this. Someone was going to die, if they already hadn't. Didn't Coulson ask her to join SHIELD so that she could help people? An idea popping into her head, she took a chance and stood up from behind her cover, hands in the air. "Stop! He's Worthy!" Everyone froze, looking at Skye. "Stop fighting!" She ran and stood between the two parties. Hulk broke free from ice, sending sharks in every direction, cutting Skye's cheek. Hulk rushed towards her, and she cringed as he stopped inches away. "He caught Mjolnir. Only the worthy can lift Mjolnir," she looked at Thor, "right?"

Thor dusted himself off as he stood, looking completely bewildered. "That is true."

"Then his intentions must be honorable. They're going to take him to American authorities," Skye looked at Black Canary. "right?" Black Canary simply nodded. "Captain Rogers, are you willing to escort them back to the States?"

Barton retrieved his bow and trained an arrow on the brunette. "You're going along with this, Rogers?"

"Maybe. Arrow!" Green Arrow peeked from behind his cover, with a trio of arrows nocked and ready to fire. Barton made him his target, and now the two archers had their own standoff. "The prisoner goes on the Quinjet. You can send two if your people with us. That's the deal."

Stark took to the air, hovering about thirty feet in the air to get a better angle for fire on Green Arrow. "I'd take the deal, Robin Hood."

Black Canary and the brunette nodded to Green Arrow. "One scream from Canary in close quarters, and you'll all be knocked out."

Rogers clamped his SHIELD onto back. "Understood."

Romanov stood up and softly put her hand on Hulk's shoulder. He whipped around as if he were about to strike her, but stopped. "The sun's gettin' real low, big guy."

What?

Romanov took Hulk's hands into hers, and his excited breathing began to slow down. His face began to soften, and he gradually became shorter and less Green. By the time he's collapsed into Romanov's arms he was Banner again, though looking very weak.

The pop! of the brunette setting his jaw back into place drew Skye's attention away. "I'll go as well."

Did she really just recommend a plan that Captain America liked? It was the brunette's plan, but it was her point about Mjolnir that made things come together. Skye's inner fangirl squeeled in delight. And goodness, Thor was even more handsome in person the on TV.

Rhodes came to and climbed to his feet, and Stark landed next to him. "How about you stop jamming our comms so we can to call our ride?"

Green Arrow chuckled. "You knocked out our comms guy. Use a smoke signal, Stark."

"Why don't you drop the bow, green jeans?" Barton demanded, still aiming at Green Arrow.

"You first. Let's see if you can hit me when I'm not distracted.."

"Since you're both injured, let's call it a draw," said Romanov. Both men slowly lowered their weapons. Black Canary retrieved a bandage from a rear pouch and tended to Green Arrow's wound.

Rogers pointed to the archers. "Do you need help with your wounded?"

The brunette looked at the building and squinted, as if looking for something, then shook his head. "Stargirl was only grazed, and Cyborg is shaken up but is coming to." Aquaman woke up slowly. "Besides, we came prepared. Let's get our prisoner behind bars." He turned towards the warehouse, with Rogers at his heels.

"We didn't know that you were an Avenger," Green Arrow said Skye, almost like a question.

That what be awesome! "No I'm not."

Thor's brow furrowed in confusion. "Do you know these people?"

Skye felt as if she'd been caught in a lie and blushed. Thor wouldn't be surprised if she had mentioned this to the team during the mission briefing. "Um, kinda sorta? They saved me from a...I don't know what you would call it, a few weeks ago."

Barton's eyes widened. "And you're just telling us this now?" Thor folded his arms in irritation. "What was Coulson thinking when he put you on this mission?"

Barton may have been an Avenger, and Skye could understood his mistrust, but he didn't have the right to question Coulson's competence. "He was thinking that you needed someone with inside knowledge on the team, and I was thinking that I didn't want anyone else added to the Index. You think that I can't be trusted? Well I don't trust people who surveil innocent citizens because they can do a little something extra. Someone has to watch the watchers."

"And that should be you? You clearly don't understand some of the threats that are out there. The Index is a necessary evil."

"Though I enjoy debating global security policy as much as the next guy," Stark tapped an imaginary phone on his wrist. "I have a fundraiser I'd like to make. Fashionably late, of course."

"For what it's worth, Stark and I don't trust SHIELD either," said an unsteady Banner.

Accusatory stares was not how Skye had wanted this to go. Would Coulson's career take a hit because of her decision? Would hers? Not for the first time, Skye wondered if finding out about her parents was worth joining SHIELD. Wearing the "uniform" might mean becoming more Barton, Fury, and others, allowing a cynical world view to justify a police state.

Was she better off being an anarchist?

THE END


End file.
